The Early Days of Organization XIII
by RayukaStar
Summary: This is just a selection of short drabbles of events in the early days of Organization XIII.  The stories are in no chronilogical order.  The rating is simply for safety purposes.
1. Loyalty

_Author Note: These are just short little stories I came up with while getting ready to roleplay as Lexaeus. They aren't in any particular order, so don't be too confused. The rating is just so I don't get in trouble later on. Oh, and Aeleus Lexaeus and Ienzo Zexion, just so you know._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the associated characters._

Loyalty

Aeleus had been working in the lab when the young Ienzo was introduced to him. Barely sparing him half a glance, the burly man had turned back to his workbench where his experiment waited. But Ienzo would not be ignored and soon, the small man was at his elbow, peering at the papers spread out across the table. "What are you working on?" he asked, his voice small and meek, as if afraid the larger man would hit him.

Aeleus frowned irritably, still not wanting to say anything, but that reticence of his was exactly what had gained him his reputation as a mean person. "I'm trying to determine what happens to the body after the heart is gone." He said, his tone a little harsh, even to his ears.

Ienzo said nothing for a moment, before a simple, "Oh," escaped his lips. Making another note on the papers, the man glanced back to his smaller companion, waiting for an explanation to his continued presence. Catching that glare, Ienzo swallowed before answering. "I was assigned to help you. Xehanort said he needs the solution as soon as possible, whatever that means." The last was said with a bit of a shrug.

The silent man frowned deeper. He'd known for awhile that Xehanort was likely to betray Ansem, but he'd hoped to have more time to decide where his own loyalties lay. If he completed this project, and discovered that the body did indeed continue after the heart was gone, nothing would hold Xehanort back from opening the door of darkness. As a scientist, he had no choice, he'd betray Ansem in the pursuit of knowledge. But what of his new companion? Should he warn him before it was too late? "What has Xehanort told you?" he asked, shifting slightly to face Ienzo.

The lilac-haired man seemingly knew what Aeleus was referring to and simply responded with, "Enough," before pulling one of the pieces of paper towards him. On it were recorded the three elements of life – body, soul, and heart – and a description of what each brought with it. The heart was simple enough, it was pure emotion and was the reason the "Heartless" were so difficult to predict. As creatures composed entirely of heart with nothing else, they were raw emotion at its finest. The body and soul were harder to define on the other hand and many notes littered the paper suggesting that the soul was equivalent to logical thoughts whereas the body was the container for all the pieces. Setting the paper down again, Ienzo looked to his large companion, arms crossing loosly over his chest. "Looks like your research is finished." He said, a hint of superiority in his voice.

Aeleus frowned, obviously annoyed at the newcomer, but the boy was right. He was finished and had simply been stalling. "Go tell Xehanort then." He said, waving a hand to the boy before moving off to his rooms. He'd have a little bit of time for a shower before Xehanort called for a meeting in the hidden areas beneath Ansem's labs. A wave of sorrow passed over him as he thought of betraying his older mentor, but nothing would stop him from pursuing this mystery – not even the weak bonds of loyalty.

_Author Note #2: I'm accepting requests for further chapters, so feel free to put them in your reviews! _


	2. Lightning

_Author's Note: Larxene Arlene. Just so you're not confused._

Lightning

Arlene was lost, completely and utterly lost. And she absolutely hated it. She couldn't remember anything about the past few days and though she could honestly say she was annoyed by this situation, something was seriously off. Growling to herself, the blonde woman glared around the place, daring any of the random people to approach her. They all backed off and she stalked on, moving to the strangely important place her mind kept coming back to – the huge bell tower in one of the districts of this Traverse Town.

Climbing up to the roof of the tower wasn't hard and now she sat at the edge of the building, arms crossed in irritation as she pondered her situation. She didn't notice, but as her annoyance grew, clouds began to close over the starlit sky, the scent of latent electricity growing heavy in the air.

It was onto this situation that two men appeared, stepping out of black swirling portals onto the stone roof. Hearing the sound of the portals, Arlene spun around in surprise to come face to shadowy face with the two men in black cloaks. She stood up abruptly, hands clenching at her sides, the faint ripple of electricity dancing over them. She was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and almost looked vulnerable, were it not for the death glare aimed at those who'd foolishly interrupted her thoughts. "Who are you?" she said, almost hissing at them.

For a moment neither man said anything, and then the larger of the two stepped forward, pulling his hood off his face as he did so. "Do you remember anything?" he asked, his voice oddly devoid of emotion. His face was chiseled, orange hair sweeping back in a strange style, but truly, no more strange than Arlene's own antennae-like hair. What really caught her attention though were his eyes that betrayed a sense of sadness towards her.

The direct question so caught Arlene off-guard that she looked to the side, unable to even toss an insult. The second man seemed to take this silence as affirmative, his own hood coming down, even as he approached close to lay a hand on her shoulder. "We can help you."

Arlene's eyes narrowed at the offending hand and she slapped it away from her, a bit of electricity zapping out at him. The man, black-haired with a confident smile, just shrugged, turning to look at his companion before looking back to the blonde. "You can deny our help, become just another Nobody, or you can come with us and embrace power."

Power? Arlene had turned away, from the men, but now turned back, an eyebrow arched as she looked to them. "Really." She said, her voice sounding incredulous, but her hands had stopped sparking.

The larger man nodded, and raised a hand to open a portal. "Come with us and you'll see." With nothing left to lose, Arlene walked into the portal, followed by the two men. On to a new life, on to power…

_Author's Note #2: Remember, request what you want to see in your review. I'm considering doing Marluxia's organization induction next, but I'm not sure where to have him from. _


	3. Moonflower

_Author Note: Lumaria is Marluxia. Oh, and the flower mentioned actually does exist. It blooms all night, and closes up when touched by the light of the sun._

Moonflower

It was cold, and more than that, lonely, but the man lying on his side looking out to the grey sea didn't seem to notice. Pale, pink hair draped over the edge of the rock he laid on, long since released from the ponytail it had been tied up in. Lumaria had been trying to cry for some time now, but tears wouldn't come. He should feel sad about the destruction of his home, Destiny Islands, but he couldn't. He couldn't feel anything at all, just a strange emptiness.

Slowly, he sat up, his legs swinging over to hang off the rock, hands gripping briefly before he pushed off, landing on the sand. He'd lived here his whole life, he'd had a job as the horticulture teacher at the local high school, he'd even had a wife, but none of that mattered anymore. Everything was gone, taken in a wave of icy darkness and he couldn't even cry for the loss.

Shrugging away the memories, he made his way across the sand to the wooden steps that'd led him off the beach. He'd go to the greenhouse where he could remember happiness. All the flowers had died, except for the _I__pomoea Alba, _moonflowers, that could survive in the endless night that had taken over the islands. Reaching the greenhouse, he lightly brushed his fingers over the small flower's blossoms, watching as they seemed to grow towards his hand, the petals opening a little wider. He was slightly surprised by that, but then, everything had changed, why not him? At least it wasn't a bad change.

He'd started to walk over to one of the dead plants when he heard footsteps approaching across the gravel outside the greenhouse. Startled, he abandoned his mission and went to the door, watching as two shadowy figures dressed in black trench coats approached. One seemed confident on seeing him, but the other, slightly smaller figure drew back a little in surprise. "You were right…?" the smaller one said, straightening as the taller one glanced sharply at him.

"Who are you?" Lumaria asked, tilting his head to the side, eyes narrowing slightly as he tried to pick out features beneath the darkness of those hoods.

"We're members of an Organization, and we were hoping you'd join." The shorter man said, dropping his hood back as he approached, revealing a scared face, an eyepatch covering his right eye. Though his words were friendly, something told him that a refusal wouldn't be taken well.

But then, why would he refuse? It wasn't like he had anything left here and everyday, a little more of the island had been disappearing. What would happen to him when it crumbled away entirely? No, staying wouldn't do so he simply looked to the two men, crossing his arms in front of him and nodded.

The larger man smirked beneath his hood, a sudden gust of wind sweeping past the three and towards a portal he'd opened in the next instance. "Come on then." He said, and stepped into the black vortex, not glancing back to the other two. Lumaria followed, not even pausing to look back.

_Author Note #2: A reviewer requested Marluxia in a gardening show, but I'm iffy about doing that since I'm trying to show how tough he is. But maybe in a deleted scenes story later, I'll use that idea. Personally, I think it could be pretty funny, but just not for this serious set of stories._


	4. Fire and Water

_Author's Note: YiLerN requested that I have something covering Axel and Demyx so here you are! Demyx's past is discussed, but I'm not sure what to have for Axel's original name so his past will have to wait._

Fire and Water

Axel stalked the halls of the Castle of the World that Never Was, irritable as he usually was when it started raining. You'd think, given that it was usually raining here, that the red-head would get used to it, but he was a fire elemental and fire simply wasn't much for rain. He had been hunting heartless earlier, but when it'd started pouring he'd escaped inside to wait for the others to come back since unlike him, they weren't rendered useless in the rain.

Abruptly, the sound of Xemnas' voice booming through the castle caught Axel's attention and he perked up, quickly portaling to the meeting room and appearing on his throne. Far below, Xaldin and Xigbar appeared, and there seemed to be someone clinging onto Xaldin. Something had happened, Xigbar and Xaldin looked cut-up, well, Xigbar always looked cut-up but these were fresh injuries on him.

"Organization, we have a new member to introduce." Xemnas said, his voice sounding irritated by the whole situation. Xigbar and Xaldin portalled after the Superior had spoken, reappearing on their respective thrones. The new person collapsed when his support left him, arms laying limp at his sides as he sat there like a puppet with his strings cut, his face turned down towards the floor. For a moment, Xemnas just sat, staring down at the newcomer like he would at a bug, but then in a flicker of darkness he vanished, reappearing again in front of him.

Axel leaned forward, peering at the two as the Superior said something to the figure that brought the new one's head up with a start. After a moment, the new one struggled to rise to his feet and finally managed it, standing unevenly before the Superior. As awkward as the boy's stance was, the Superior seemed pleased and waved his hand, the name 'Myde' appearing as gold letters floating in the air before the boy. Axel shivered, remembering when he'd been in the new person's place, not so very long ago.

"You were once Myde, but now, you are nothing, a Nobody. Your old name no longer suits you so…" Here Xemnas' paused in his speech, a hand lifting as the letters of Myde's name danced around him, then abruptly stopped, an 'X', the symbol for nothingness, appearing and sinking into the name. The boy's new name was revealed, and he stumbled back a step, though whether from fear or from loss of balance, Axel wasn't sure. "You are now Demyx, number IX of the Organization." Something more was said, but too low for Axel to hear it. Whatever it was though had Demyx stumbling again and abruptly portalling to his new throne.

Xemnas portalled as well, reappearing on his throne above the rest. "Axel," he said, looking to the very confused red-head. "Make sure Demyx learns all he needs to." Axel blinked, then turned to glare down at the hunched and cloaked figure on the throne below his. He didn't want this job, but now had no choice.

Turning back to Xemnas' he nodded. "Fine." And then in a burst of flame, he vanished, reappearing at the floor of the throne room and walking out the door. Behind him, he heard the familiar bampfh of another portal and something falling to the floor, then running feet before a hand grabbed onto his cloak pulling him down hard.

Axel shook off Demyx's grip, letting him drop to the floor. He wasn't interested in favoring the boy as Xaldin seemingly had been doing and turned back to glare down at the boy as Demyx climbed to his feet again. "Where did Xaldin and Xigbar pick up someone as pathetic as you?"

"Atlantica…" Demyx murmered, pressing his hands together briefly in nervousness. He still seemed a little unsteady, but he was gradually getting the hang of walking.

At Demyx's answer, Axel winced. That was one world he'd stopped at briefly, landing on a beach there, before quickly leaving the primarily water-filled world. Most of the people there were merfolk and judging from Demyx's difficulty walking, the boy had once been one of them. Hesitantly, Axel asked his next question, not really wanting to know the answer. "And what is your element…?"

"Water. Wanna see?" Demyx said, perking up a little bit at the chance to show how not useless he was but Axel lifted his hands, as if warding him off.

"Eh, not here." It would be fun to send the kid off to Zexion since the little bookworm of the elders would absolutely _love _to see a demonstration of water ability, especially around his books, but that would only piss Xemnas off and Axel definitely didn't want that. "Well, come on. You can tell me why you were recruited in the first place as we walk." He'd take him to the Hall of Empty Melodies and let Demyx demonstrate his abilities there. If he was lucky, Lexaeus would be back from heartless hunting and would be willing to help him test the kid.

"Um well, I don't remember losing my heart exactly. I think I hit my head or something, but when I woke up, I had legs and I was lying on the beach. Xaldin and Xigbar came then and I got scared." Demyx's voice had grown more confident and his steps more steady as he walked, but here he hesitated, drawing a glance from Axel. Nobodies didn't actually get scared, but the red-head wouldn't badger the boy about it. He'd realize soon enough it was all just memories of emotion.

"You got scared and…?" Axel prompted when the boy stopped his narrative.

Demyx fidgeted again, but did as he'd been asked. "I accidently attacked them. They attacked me back, and I think I blacked out. When I came to again, they told me they wanted to take me somewhere and brought me here…"

Axel blinked over at Demyx, honestly surprised at what the kid had to say. Now he knew why the two elders had looked so beat up. They'd come to their first stop though and Axel knocked on the door in front of him. For a moment there was no answer and then the door opened, revealing Lexaeus. "What?" The older man wasn't known for his overwhelming sociability but of the elders, he was the least likely to kill Demyx out of spite.

"Can you help me test Demyx? He controls water…" Axel trailed off, knowing the other man would know exactly why he needed the help.

Lexaeus did indeed understand and so he nodded, adding almost as an after thought. "I'll meet you in the Hall of Empty Melodies." He disappeared behind his door again and Axel led Demyx the rest of the way down the hallway. Lexaeus would finish whatever he'd been doing and teleport there.

Another turn and they came to the large room known as the Hall of Empty Melodies. The room was divided into two sections, upper and lower, and when the battle between Lexaeus and Demyx started, Axel would teleport to the upper level to observe. He'd be able to study the kid's abilities best by simply watching and hopefully the higher platform would keep him out of the way of Demyx's attacks. "Alright kid," he said, turning to Demyx once they'd entered the center of the lower area. "Show me your weapon."

Demyx nodded and Axel stepped back as water bubbled up from the ground, rising into a bubble shape around the boy and collecting where Demyx had raised his hand. The mass of water grew larger and then burst, revealing a sitar that the water-user quickly closed his hand around and brought down into a playing position. Axel was going to comment on the _unique _weapon, but the sound of a portal opening behind him drew his attention as Lexaeus appeared, his tomahawk already summoned and resting next to him.

Axel nodded respectfully to him and teleported, reappearing again far above to watch as Lexaeus indicated that Demyx should make the first move. The boy leapt into action and Axel was amazed as the kid's sudden burst of water forced the much larger man back a few steps, but then Lexaeus brought the Tomahawk into play, barely missing Demyx as the kid leapt backwards. The water-user brought his hand down on the sitar, letting out a quavering chord of music and the water that'd been splashed around the area suddenly rose up into dancing figures, twirling around before dashing towards Lexaeus who simply swung his Tomahawk, shattering them all.

Demyx took the pause and suddenly yelled, "Dance, water, dance!", and the dancing figures collected together again and crashed into Lexaeus before he could retaliate, actually knocking Lexaeus off his feet. The large man only raised a hand though and stones melted themselves up from the ground and threw themselves at Demyx, catching him off guard and knocking him to the ground as well.

The battle had reached an unspoken draw and both men let there weapons vanish as Axel teleported back down. Lexaeus got to his feet as Demyx did and nodded to the water-user in approval before teleporting away again. Axel watched him go, then looked back to Demyx, clapping his hands slightly in applause. "Not bad kid, not many can actually knock Lexaeus down." He fished a potion vial from a coat pocket and tossed it to the kid, watching quietly as the kid drank it and the bruises from the battle faded away. "There might be some hope for you after all."

Demyx smiled ruefully, but then gave Axel a sideways glance. "What is your element, anyway?"

Axel let out a short laugh, lifting his hand to make a little flame dance in his palm. "Fire, kid." Demyx only nodded, matching Axel's smirk with a smile of his own and Axel's smile grew wider. Maybe water wasn't so bad after all.


End file.
